Ferrari shows competitiveness only in bursts at Montreal

The Canadian Grand Prix was another Formula 1 race where Ferrari does what it can. A decent result that brings home some points, but at the same time satisfies no one. At the start, the two Reds did not take risks. Meanwhile, George Russell made the right move: keeping Max Verstappen behind. Red Bull, on their part, was quite confident that the high track temperatures could trouble Mercedes, considering the +15 degrees celsius compared to Friday.

Almost everyone chose the Medium tire for the start, although the strategy was not very clear. The transition between single and double stops was not well defined. For this reason, everyone wanted to extend the first stint so as not to close any doors. Only Lando Norris and Charles Leclerc chose the Hard in the top ten, seeking possible different strategic opportunities compared to those on the Pirelli C5.

George Russell and Max Verstappen had good pace on track. Behind, McLaren feared graining a lot, precisely because they had suffered from it in previous occasions. If the front-end starts to cool down over the laps, this phenomenon inevitably emerges. So they tried a very slow introduction. The same for Ferrari, although Charles Leclerc complained about the Hard. Theoretically, the two compounds were not very different.

Car number 16 had to perform lift and coast from the first laps due to brake temperatures, needing to be careful with bumps to avoid excessive plank wear. For McLaren, the challenge was managing the rear rather than worrying about the front. This considering the car’s base was more oversteering, which could influence thermal pressure on the rear. Almost unexpectedly, the first to pit was Max Verstappen suffering from graining. Instead of fixing it, the team chose a different approach with Kimi Antonelli close behind. This move triggered Mercedes to respond by calling George Russell in the next lap, who switched to the Hard, neutralizing a possible undercut. Kimi Antonelli also pitted shortly after, as the German believed he couldn’t extend the stint much longer.

Then it was Oscar Piastri and Lewis Hamilton’s turn, also on Pirelli C4. Furthermore, from the Ferrari pit, they detected a loss of downforce due to damage. The Australian driver was told that his McLaren teammate, on white tires, was struggling more with the front than the rear. Indeed, the Englishman had graining on the front left. Lando Norris and Charles Leclerc continued their strategy, trying to extend the stint on the hard as much as possible.

Contrary to McLaren’s early race expectations, it was clearly a front-limited race. Max Verstappen also suffered problems managing the front, requesting a ‘flap adjust’ for the next stop. He probably wanted to increase front downforce to rebalance his RB21. Generally, though, he told the team he simply did not have enough pace.

On lap 30, Charles Leclerc made his pit stop to switch to a second set of hard tires. The idea was to shorten the final stint significantly to maintain a nearly qualifying pace. Shortly before, he had been informed they had switched to “Plan B.” This meant they wanted to perform a double stop, no longer a single one. The Monegasque driver expressed on the radio why they had stopped. According to him, the tire was still in good condition and he could continue. The pit believed degradation was worse than expected, even on the hard, so trying a single stop would have been useless. Unlike other cars, Charles Leclerc was more limited with the rear in the final phase. The following lap Lando Norris pitted as well, defending against the Maranello team’s undercut attempt.

McLaren was evaluating Plan B or A-5. Probably, for them, the double stop was Plan A, while the single stop was Plan B. The term A-5 means they would stop 5 laps earlier than planned. The Monegasque believed a single stop was feasible. However, it was a race strategy that would not have moved him beyond sixth place.

It was something different that didn’t offer better results. There is much talk about “risk.” It must be said that strategy is not only about gambles but mainly data. Meanwhile, when Max Verstappen was about to be overtaken again by Kimi Antonelli, the team preferred another stop. This happened on lap 37, when Mercedes covered George Russell’s strategy only with the Italian driver, not with him.

George Russell pitted on lap 45 to gain an advantage in the final stages. Three laps later Lando Norris also stopped to switch to a second set of hard tires. Compared to Ferrari, they made the opposite choice, using the Hard compound in the last part of the race rather than the middle. A moment when McLaren believed they could catch Kimi Antonelli and potentially Max Verstappen. Then we know how it ended with Lando Norris.